Just picked up my AutoSock

[faboka]

From my local Vauxhaul dealer. Best bit was they were £10 cheaper then going direct with Autosock

Not had a chance to try them out yet But its just a mater of time.

[martine]

I'd be interested in your experience of using it - others here say they are very good within the limits suggested.

[faboka]

Yeah it does have limits. Think the thing to remember is its designed to be used when your in that tricky situation. Not all the time.

Will post up how we get on with them if we get to use them.

[Horse]

South Central Ambulance (Hants/Berks/Oxon/Bucks) has equipped their vehicles with them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11853611

[jcochrane]

I'm into my third year of using autosocks. They deffinitely do the business. Once off the snow you must remove them (only takes a sec.) otherwise they will rip to shreds.

Snow, where I live, has been a foot deep for the last couple of days and once more autosocks have got me going without fail. As others have said they are a "get me out of jail" and not something you keep on all the time but they are really easy to slip on and off as required. Worth every penny in my view and are kept in the boot throughout the winter months.

[michael769]

I'd be interested in your experience of using it - others here say they are very good within the limits suggested.

Up here in Eastern Scotland we have been having the worst conditions in living memory (the older fogeys are saying it is worse than 63), my area which is the worst affected part of the country below the 250m contour, has had 10-20cm of snow a day every day since Saturday.

As of today the snow on the lawn is 4ft deep and it is no longer possible to work out where my hedge is. Tractors have came round and compacted the snow for us, and some of us have been out and dug some parts of the road, but where folks are less community spirited ruts of up to 6-12ins deep are pretty routine.

Despite that the autosocks have allowed me to get traction where few others did, even on the slops which I found very difficult last year. They are (for me) slightly fiddly to get on, and you do need to be careful to get them on correctly but one I get near the main road it only takes a few seconds to yank them off. The main roads are pretty drivable unless heavy snow is actually falling so that is pretty much all I need. So far they seem to be taking the punishment without any signs of wear.

Conditions mean I go up at close to fast walking pace, but having reliable constant grip and a little braking ability is a massive improvement on last year. I get some looks from folks out and about when they see the front wheels covered. All in all I'd reccomend them if you live any distance from a main road or have a significant hill to deal with on the way.

[jcochrane]

They are (for me) slightly fiddly to get on, and you do need to be careful to get them on correctly but one I get near the main road it only takes a few seconds to yank them off.

Can be a bit tricky if there is not much clearance under the wheel arch. Have you tried turning the wheels first in one direction, to get the socks onto almost half the wheel, then turn in the opposte direction to to get the rest on. Roll forward or back to finish off the last bit that was under the wheel. No need for precision just get them roughly in place. After a few yards they will automatically centre themselves. I find this works for me.

[faboka]

Well just got a chance to put them to the test. And the result



Simple enough to put on however after the first use, when their nice and clean but it becomes messy as they get full of crap. So the gloves are recommended.

So this morning we've got a good 6inches of snow if not more. Where I live we live on a side road which hasn't been treated. So out they came. Result is I had more traction today (no wheelspin) then the other week when it was only a light covering of snow.

If snow/winter tyres are like this then I really want to buy some for next year.

When worth the £60.

[Gareth]

If snow/winter tyres are like this then I really want to buy some for next year.

I haven't carried out a direct comparison but winter tyres are better in a couple ways, that being that you don't have to keep fitting and removing them if there are sections of cleared road, and when conditions allow you can go a lot faster!

[TripleS]

I've been thinking (yeah, yeah, I know ) about driving in snow. Imagine you're driving on a road where there is an appreciable depth of snow, but existing wheel tracks have already been made by previous traffic. What we should do, I reckon, is drive on the virgin snow rather than following in the existing wheel tracks, and then we're getting more of the snow flattened down, which reduces the risk of following vehicles being confronted with an excessive depth of the stuff. This can be relevant where it is snowing heavily, or we have strong winds causing the rapid accumulation of drifts. I have 'fond' memories of such scenarios from the winters of the early 1960s.

One thing I used to find a complete PITA was when the Sprite used to get stuck in deep snow, because the snow was solidly packed up under the flat floor of the car, and the ******* wheels were clear of the ground! In that situation it was hard work getting the snow dug out from under the car so the tyres could get down to making contact with the hard packed snow again.

There will be no charge for this valuable tip.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[jcochrane]

If snow/winter tyres are like this then I really want to buy some for next year.

I haven't carried out a direct comparison but winter tyres are better in a couple ways, that being that you don't have to keep fitting and removing them if there are sections of cleared road, and when conditions allow you can go a lot faster!

Gareth, in your research did you look into just changing summer tyres to winter tyres, with similar profiles, to avoid the expense of buying wheels?

[Gareth]

did you look into just changing summer tyres to winter tyres, with similar profiles, to avoid the expense of buying wheels?

We've done this for one car this year, although we changed to 'all season' tyres that are also suitable for use as a winter tyre. This was partly as an experiment but partly to avoid the faff of finding a second set of wheels for the car, which might be a bit difficult as the car is old and parts hard to find.

When I was considering the problem last year I'd already spent a great deal of time trying to understand the options and weigh them up. I wanted the narrowest tread that was OK to use to make it easier to drive through snow. At the same time using smaller wheels meant the tyres would cost a lot less, although that might not have been the case if the narrower taller size was significantly less popular.

Steel wheels would be an advantage in two ways. First they are cheap to buy, even brand new, and second if they do get kerbed then often they can be bent back, unlike alloys. The smaller wheel size and taller sidewall height also means that wheel damage due to kerbing is less likely. Finally since steel wheels are normally seen as less desirable they can often be picked up cheaply second-hand, although I didn't do that.

The final consideration was the cost of changing tyres on the same wheel twice a year. Even though I bought brand new wheels, the break even point for me was after changing summer to winter then back to summer, meaning after the first year it would work out cheaper to do it this way.

[faboka]

If snow/winter tyres are like this then I really want to buy some for next year.

I haven't carried out a direct comparison but winter tyres are better in a couple ways, that being that you don't have to keep fitting and removing them if there are sections of cleared road, and when conditions allow you can go a lot faster!

The keep removing and refitting would be the biggest reason to opt for winter/snow Tyres. So far today I've fitted/removed them six times in total. Should get Nicci to start timing me They are straight forward to use however sometimes they can be a little tricky if you wrapped the first part over the wheel too much. But for what you get in return is fantastic traction. Nicci had one little moment of wheelspin but the steering was on full lock.

Overall were both blown away with the difference they make.

I've already got two spare alloys for the fabia so will keep a look out for another 2 in the summer.

[fungus]

We've had a couple of inches of snow today and in the side roads the snow has become compacted and slippery. I've been out with learners purposely using slippery side roads. I hav'nt experienced major traction problems, in fact the learners have coped very well.

My Fiesta is fitted with 195/45 16 Hankooks, which presumably are summer tyres, on the front, and although if you are a bit heavy on the gas you spin the wheels, as would be expected, it coped very well, much better than my Ibiza tdi, which was fitted with 205/45 16 Pirelli Zero Neros.

[faboka]

I've got the Same pirreli's fitted to the fabia, same size as yours. They seem fine on most roads however when you do find some deep or compacted snow they are useless.